The Winnipeg Jets will enter training camp with the eyes of the league trained on Manitoba. Unfortunately, that’s not because the club is expected to be a force in the NHL this season, but due to the fact that franchise goalie Connor Hellebuyck has made public his desire to play for another team.
At a time when hope bubbles in so many hockey burghs around Canada and the U.S., there’s an undeniable black cloud hanging over the Prairies.
All is not lost, however, as Winnipeg looks to bounce back from a disappointing non-playoff showing, one year after finishing atop the standings in 2025-26. Every conversation around the team starts and ends with Hellebuyck, but there’s still plenty to talk about in between.
Salary cap space: $4,481,668
GM: Kevin Cheveldayoff
Head coach: Scott Arniel
Assistant coaches: Marty Johnston, Davis Payne, Dean Chynoweth, Wade Flaherty
Key additions: Mario Ferraro, D; Stuart Skinner, G
Key subtractions: Eric Comrie, G; Jonathan Toews, C; Gustav Nyqvist, W
What we’ll learn during pre-season:
The summer started with a feeling the Jets could move an unhappy Hellebuyck, then ended with the goalie putting pressure on the organization by publicly confirming he wanted out. Until the situation is resolved, all we know is everyone — including Hellebuyck, likely — will put on a brave face and try to move forward.
While there’s surely a bit of a swimming-duck element to this — calm above the water, furiously paddling underneath — we know GM Kevin Cheveldayoff will not be bullied into anything. Being forced to trade a player is nothing new for Winnipeg’s GM and — from Jacob Trouba to Patrik Laine to Pierre-Luc Dubois — he’s done pretty darn well when cornered before.
Assuming this ordeal ends in a trade, certainly you’d prefer to make that happen sooner rather than later. We’ve seen some serious in-season blockbusters the past couple years, though, and it’s still better for Cheveldayoff to wait and see who might emerge as a hungry trading partner in coming months rather than settle for a swap he doesn’t like right now.
Until he’s moved, however, all of Manitoba — and a handful of cities